Noise Cancellation Lifestyle: 3 Ways to Overcome Self-Doubt in Business

It’s not necessarily something b-school will teach you, and most business books don’t touch on it. One of the most important catalysts in entrepreneurship is personal development.

A deficit of faith and confidence is the root issue behind small business failure. Statistics will signify one hundred and one reasons strategically and tactically why you’re climbing an uphill battle, but the root of the issue is self-doubt. We’ve all wondered – can I really learn this, execute on this and succeed at this?

Whatever your ‘this’ is, and in case no one has told you lately — my answer is unequivocally, “Yes. Of course you can!”

Turn Up the Volume on Your Dreams

A positive mindset and correct thought process is the highest common denominator to your success. If you read Success Profiles and Savvy Startups here at YFS Magazine – not one of them will advise you to think lowly of yourself. Rather, quite contrary the resounding theme is – “Believe in yourself!”

We’ve all taken different paths in entrepreneurship. Therefore, a culmination of varying experiences and perspectives will make starting your own business very easy or perpetually harder. Whatever stage you find yourself at right now, here are three proven tips to help you cancel out the noise and experience high quality surround sound entrepreneurship.

1. Start where you are.

Too often, I’ve heard “I just need (insert magical number here) to get my business off the ground, otherwise I can’t do this.” Newsflash – many of today’s successful companies started with zilch … or close to it.

Whole Foods Market founders (25-year-old college dropout and his girlfriend) borrowed money to open the doors of their small Austin, Texas store. Within a year, the couple was evicted from their home for using their apartment for storage. “Homeless and with no place to go they decided to save costs by moving and living at their store full time (businesspundit.com).” Fast forward circa now, and Whole Foods operates 304 stores across the U.S. with revenues of $9.006 billion.

In 1872, young German born immigrant, Adolf Coors took an initial investment of $2000 and led Coors Brewing Company to become one of the largest brewing companies in the world.

Swedish immigrant, John W. Nordstrom, came to America with five dollars to his name. Unable to speak English several years later he saved $13,000 and opened his first shoe store. Years later Nordstrom grew from the one shoe store in downtown Seattle to the now multi-billion dollar retail empire.

The theme amongst these humble startups is clear – start from where you are right now, wok hard and don’t quit.

2. Live a noise cancellation lifestyle.

Noise cancelling devices are incredible – they cancel out unwanted noise, increase sound quality and contribute to a better listening experience. The same could be said for taking a noise cancellation approach to life and business.

I liken our brain to a basic computing model. Input/output (I/O) refers to the communication between an information processing system (your brain), and the outside world. Inputs are received and outputs are sent. This basic model makes it easy to understand how whatever you put in (information) reflects what’s coming out (your perception, thought process and mindset).

Block out noise in business by consistently filtering what you receive and accept. Cancel out noise from individuals who are not qualified to consult you in business. Then adjust information you consume to support positive inputs that align with your future goal state. Lastly, recharge yourself daily by ensuring your associations and activities are aligned with the end in mind.

The only thing that matters is what you tell yourself about your capabilities in business – everything else is noise. Consume wisely.

3. Believe in yourself.

Be audacious. Have the courage to do what others dare not to do. When you’re tempted to say, “I can’t.” Instead, confidently proclaim, “Yes, I can.” Eliminating negative self-talk is the first step to cultivating a stronger belief in you as a person and a business leader. It’s as simple as changing what you say when you talk to yourself … and believe me, everyone is quite acclimated to doing it. If you think,daydream, write, etc. you talk to yourself.

You don’t get what you want, you get what you expect. I’ve found one thing to be true — people that expect the worst usually get it. As an entrepreneur you are the foundation … the producer and director of your business ventures. What you believe about yourself will unquestionably affect your business. Belief facilitates action, so start to believe better things.

At the end of the day, overcoming a lack of confidence in the reliability of who you are starts with a quality decision. Turn up the volume on your dreams, believe in yourself, execute relentlessly and live a deliberate noise cancellation lifestyle. Produce a business free of self-doubt and full of surround sound opportunity.

Erica Nicole is the Founder and CEO of YFS Magazine -- a Young, Fabulous & Self-Employed brand. She is an accomplished serial entrepreneur, acclaimed small business advisor, dynamic speaker, syndicated columnist, philanthropist and Christian thought leader. She has been featured in Forbes, Fox Business, Entrepreneur Magazine, The Huffington Post, Business Insider, Mashable, AOL.com, and many more national media outlets. Connect with Erica on Twitter @YFSEricaNicole.

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Texas Mike

Spot on. Another big mistake starting entrepreneurs make is that they read or hear about these one in a million stories of success talked about on business shows, magazines, and so on. What these shows and mags don’t tell you is that the overnight success took ten years to happen. Or the amazing success story was the fourth business attempt with the first three being total failures. Or they had a large infusion of cash thanks to knowing the right people. The real story isn’t talked about because it isn’t entertaining enough. Who wants to hear about the business that took ten years to finally become successful? This unrealistic expectation just leads people to believe that they can start a business and become hugely successful instantly. Instead they are immensely disappointed and give up way too soon.

The truth is, it might take a few years to become profitable or it might take fifteen years. I’ve personally learned that the number of years it takes depends on how much you need to learn. I’ll also suggest that it’s important for everyone to run their own race. If you keep focusing on what others are doing or how others are doing it, you’re going to miss your opportunity to make your own destiny.